Andrea Mancuso, educator
Teaching with Contemporary art
Dr. Andrea Mancuso has been leading, teaching, and advising students at Nichols School in Buffalo, New York, and at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Saudi Arabia since 1999. She is an exhibiting visual artist and filmmaker with a PhD in Visual Studies. She is an Art21 Educator and teacher mentor, a National Geographic Educator, and a Duke of Edinburgh Award Leader.
At Nichols School, Dr. Mancuso led the Grades 5–12 Arts Department, overseeing comprehensive performing and visual arts programs encompassing dance, vocal and instrumental music, visual art, and theatre. As Department Chair, she supervised eight full-time and two part-time faculty members and managed 13 budgets, two digital labs, 100 instruments, 40 cameras, sheet-music and costume libraries, three art studios, and a darkroom. She coordinated the arts calendar, including 16 annual performances and three exhibition openings.
Dr. Mancuso also collaborated with Admissions on arts scholarships and with Advancement on major donor initiatives. She served on the Academic Review Committee and represented the Arts Department at school events and board meetings. She taught and advised more than 200 students annually, supporting their artistic and academic development and guiding them through the college application process, including the development of individual portfolios.
As a curriculum leader, Dr. Mancuso developed new courses, most recently “Work of Life – Curation,” supporting the school’s art collection and exhibition program. She worked with Harvard Project Zero and Understanding by Design to establish enduring understandings and vertically align the Grades 5–12 arts curriculum.
At KAUST, Dr. Mancuso expanded her teaching practice to include curriculum development for an IB international school. She focused on integrating contemporary art and artistic practices with the Transdisciplinary Themes of the Primary Years Programme (PYP), emphasizing engagement with contemporary artists, photography, filmmaking, studio art, and ceramics. She helped facilitate a rapidly growing arts program serving more than 800 students and taught more than 20 courses per week to learners across a wide range of ages, backgrounds, and abilities.
Currently, Dr. Mancuso is building curriculum and teaching workshops as the 2026-2027 Artist in Residence at Daemen University in Amherst, NY, and through recent Resident Fellowships at The Saltonstall Foundation in Ithaca, NY, Adirondack Experience Museum in Blue Mountain Lake, NY, and MIRABO press in Buffalo, NY.
video slideshow of student work and teaching
videos from my classroom that were created to accompany application for my Art21 Educator fellowship.
Artwork as Kinship
Together We Will See It Through.
Published on September 16, 2022
The Process is the product
Teaching with Contemporary Art
Published on January 7, 2022